Roger Federer emerged from the wreckage of a sensational day of men’s singles semi-final drama at Wimbledon to reach the semi-finals and stay on course for a record eighth title.
The 35-year-old Swiss legend – who can claim to be the best sportsman, let alone tennis player, ever – is gunning for a 19th Grand Slam singles title, and he dispatched Canadian Milos Raonic in straight sets.
Federer will face Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals, while the other semi will feature Sam Querrey against Marin Cilic.
That scenario as brought about after the world No 1 and favourite Andy Murray was eliminated, as was Novak Djokovic.
Murray appeared hampered by a hip injury as he was knocked out by Querrey, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 6-1, who become the first American man to reach a Grand Slam semi-final since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009.
Murray, 30, led by a set and a break, but the Briton lost 12 of the last 14 games as he struggled physically.
‘Throughout the tournament I’ve been a little bit sore, but I tried my best, right to the end I gave everything I had, and I’m proud about that, but it’s obviously disappointing to lose,’ said Murray.
‘There was an opportunity there, so I’m sad that it’s over. Before the tournament it was very short-term solutions because you want to play Wimbledon.’
No 2 seed Djokovic needed to win the title to return to the top of the rankings, but an elbow injury saw him pull out in the second set of his quarter-final against Berdych.
Querrey will face No 7 seed Marin Cilic in the semi-final, after the Croat beat Gilles Muller in five sets.
Muller – who beat Rafael Nadal in just under five hours on Monday – took the first set, but former US Open champion Cilic came through to win 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, 5-7, 6-1.
Federer moved into the last four with a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) win against Raonic. He made short work of beating last year’s runner-up with a trademark display on Centre Court as he won his 100th singles match at Wimbledon.
Federer is only the second man to play 100 matches at Wimbledon in the Open era after Jimmy Connors, and took the first two sets in under an hour as he picked up his 89th win at the tournament to reach a record 12th semi-final at SW19.
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